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At first glance, the data may seem like good news.
Reports of child abuse and neglect in Vermont have dropped significantly for the months of March and April.
Abuse is down about 30% for March 2020 from the prior period in 2019, according to data from the Department for Children and Families. There were 1,820 calls in 2019. In that same month this year, there were 1,254.
In the first two weeks of April, abuse and neglect reports dropped almost 50%. In that period, 773 calls were made to DCF, compared with 423 calls in the first half of April 2020.
These drops are also being seen in other states across the county. Reports of child abuse have dropped 50% in Wisconsin and Massachusetts during the pandemic. Nevada and Washington are also seeing decreases in reports.
Officials and advocates warn that the statistics are misleading.
With children at home, and no longer in school or child care where mandatory reporters could raise alarms, signs of abuse and neglect are going undetected.
Christine Johnson, deputy commissioner of the state’s Family Services Division, says self-isolation during the pandemic adds stress to familes that are struggling to pay bills and buy food.
“A big cause of this is that a lot of our mandated reporters, so folks like doctors and teachers and counselors, they are, of course, not having contact with our kids and with our families,” Johnson said.
During the Covid-19 crisis, DCF caseworkers have had to find new tools for identifying abuse. Brenda Gooley, director of operations for DCF, said that before the pandemic, if a report of abuse was seen as legitimate, a caseworker would likely meet the family at their home.
In that context, the caseworker could get a physical sense of the child’s safety and pick up on interpersonal cues. But because of social distancing guidelines, that personal interaction is no longer possible.
“We’re not able to go through the household and see all the different rooms in a household,” Gooley said.
“Say for example someone has placed their child in harm due to allegations of substance abuse. So if you’re interacting, facetiming with that individual, you may not be aware that in the back room, there’s significant evidence of major substance abuse. For example lots of bottles and beer cans or even needles,” Gooley said.
Now, caseworkers and other mandatory reporters are being trained to ask more questions about how a child or family is doing and if they need any resources that the state could help connect them with.
The state has also issued new guidance to help teachers identify signs of abuse among students. Teachers, who normally interact with their students every day, are often the first to identify a change in mood or emotions that can lead to an intervention, Gooley said.
Educators made up the largest number of mandatory reporters a year ago March, according to DCF data. The number of reports was almost halved from 662 in March 2019 to 369 in March 2020.
Dave Melnick, who works with the NFI Vermont Family Center, told House Education Committee lawmakers in mid-April that schools need to prepare for a second public health crisis after the pandemic. Melnick predicts children will be subjected to mental health damage from the exacerbated stresses their families face during the pandemic. Stressors are impacting families from all socioeconomic classes and backgrounds, he said.
“I think there is going to be a majority who are back in school who are ready learners,” Melnick said. “But there will be a sizable minority that are going to come back so disoriented, so anxious that it’s going to take a while to just get back into the flow of what school represents.”
Melnick said he thinks the schools that prioritize rebuilding the social and emotional well-being of their students — and teachers — will bounce back the best academically.
“We’re out of rhythm with each other,” Melnick said. “If a band didn’t play together for five or six months, it wouldn’t be pretty the first couple of times.”
Johnson said DCF is continuing to coordinate with educators about how it can help families and their kids adjust if schools open up as regularly scheduled in the fall. This emotional support, Melnick says, is going to be essential.
“Excellent schools are prioritizing mindfulness over curriculum,” Melnick said. “They will prioritize the importance of empathy and patience.”
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Read the story on VTDigger here: Child abuse reports drop, raising alarm.